Gordon Sondland has a whole new problem
I have often observed that bigotry is a moral failing that seldom stands alone. One does not commonly hear the words, “He’s a bigot, but he’s a nice guy otherwise,” or “She is the kindest person I ever met – except that she’s a bigot.” Typically bigotry seethes inside the human breast festering with a plethora of other moral inadequacies.
One can construct a useful syllogism from the above coupled with the now obvious truism that Trump supporters are bigots. When you stop to consider how many Trump cronies are now in prison, or convicted and on their way to prison, or under criminal investigation, the conclusion that their bigotries are hosted by a cornucopia of other crimes both moral and statutory is immediate and unsurprising.
In the case of Gordon Sondland the syllogism might go like this: All Trump supporters are bigots who consequently have numerous character flaws. Gordon Sondland was a Trump supporter. Therefore Sondland has numerous character flaws.
So it should come as no surprise that Gordon Sondland has now been accused of sexual assault by three women. Each of these women are boldly forthright in their accusations and have made them out in the open, using their full names. Sondland (through his lawyer) “vehemently denies these allegations,” of course, and suggests the women have concocted the allegations in an effort to extract revenge for his failure to help them with their careers, as if, after a humiliating backpedal on national television, Sondland suddenly needs to be taken down a peg or two.
Sondland, who was appointed by Trump as the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union for his overwhelming qualifications for the job, namely, because he bought a “VVIP” (Very, Very Important Person) Pass to Trump’s inaugural ball for a cool million dollars, and who was a key witness in last week’s impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump, says, “These untrue claims of unwanted touching and kissing are concocted and, I believe, coordinated for political purposes. They have no basis in fact, and I categorically deny them.”
Here are what the women have to say. In one case, a prospective business partner recalled that Sondland took her on a tour in a hotel he owned, grabbed her face and tried to kiss her. After she rejected his advances, Sondland backed out on investing in her business. A second woman says that Sondland exposed himself to her during a business interaction. A third woman, 27 years Sondland’s junior, said she met him to discuss job opportunities and instead he pushed himself against her and kissed her. She was obliged to push Sondland away. Needless to say, he stopped assisting her career.
Sondland’s lawyer, Jim McDermott, suggests that these women are simply getting their vengeance because Sondland wouldn’t agree to help assist them. “Notably,” McDermott said, “what each of these three women share in common is that they pursued Ambassador Sondland for financial and personal gain – an investment, a job and insurance brokerage work – and he declined their proposals.”
In other words, everybody is lying and Sondland, who likes to parade around with his wife and family to show what a great guy he is, is innocent. Sondland even sounds like Donald Trump. In an earlier piece I said I didn’t want to see Sondland go to jail. I changed my mind. I now hope he goes to jail – and I hope he rots there.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.